Friday, April 11, 2008

It’s certainly remarkable that the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee will certainly be either the first woman or the first African American to be in serious contention for the presidency. In fact, the polls say that whichever the nominee is, he or she will win over the Republican Party’s choice, so it’s very likely that we’ll soon — though not soon enough, by far — have a the first female or black president in the White House. Though let’s not get too complacent; the polls have been wrong before.

But there’s something else remarkable here, something that’s easy to overlook with all the rest that’s going on. We haven’t elected a sitting U.S. senator in 48 years, and not for 40 years before that... and we’re nearly certain to do so this year: all three of the likely winners are current senators.

The voting public seems to prefer executive experience, and we generally elect former vice presidents or governors. Look at the record for the last 100 or so years:

Year firstelected

2000

George W. Bush

Governor

1992

Bill Clinton

Governor

1988

George H. W. Bush

Vice President

1980

Ronald Reagan

Former Governor

1976

Jimmy Carter

Governor

1968

Richard Nixon[1]

Former VPFormer Senator

1964

Lyndon Johnson

President[2]Former VP

1960

John F. Kennedy

Senator

1952

Dwight Eisenhower

General of the Army[3]

1948

Harry S Truman

President[2]Former VP

1932

Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Governor

1928

Herbert Hoover

Secretary of Commerce[3]

1924

Calvin Coolidge

Vice PresidentFormer Governor

1920

Warren G. Harding

SenatorFormer Lieutenant Governor

1912

Woodrow Wilson

Governor

1908

William Howard Taft

Secretary of Warformer colonial Governor

1904

Theodore Roosevelt

President[2]Former VPFormer Governor

1896

William McKinley

Governor

Until now, John F. Kennedy was the only president we’ve elected with no prior executive experience since Benjamin Harrison in 1888.

I think that all three candidates are qualified for the job. And yet it has to be daunting: whoever is elected will inherit a country with serious problems, domestic and foreign, and has a difficult job ahead. Experience at something other than legislation — and no, I don’t count Mrs Clinton’s years with her husband in the White House as executive experience — would help.

[1] Since Gerald Ford wasn’t elected (not even as VP), I’m not counting him at all.

[2] Took over when his predecessor died in office.

[3] Eisenhower’s five-star General position certainly qualified as "executive", as did Hoover’s cabinet position.

2 comments:

As far as the executive experience goes, Bush 43 had it and a whole lot of good it did him... Others too, you could argue. I don't really think that the voters think about the executive experience per se, but rather that those with it know how to win a person-in-chief seat and perhaps can tap into the base better? Just some random thoughts...

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